There was no kissing of shirtless men or shout-outs to Tim Tebow, but Katy Perry still made quite an impression last night. The pop music princess was a vision in pink at the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute to Sir Paul McCartney...
Ms. Perry was one of the last celebs to hit the red carpet at the Los Angeles Convention Center in a sleeveless silk and lace pink gown from French designer Alexis Mabille. But it was the "Teenage Dream" singer's hat that grabbed everyone's attention—think gigantic pink flower in full bloom. Diamond earrings, flawless makeup (va-va-va voom red lipstick!) and a peek of her still-blue hair completed the look.
Perry remained silent while taking pics and declining interviews. She was one of the many superstars on the night's lineup, giving a soulful performance of "Hey, Jude." She used a pink music stand, a conductor's baton and a crystal-covered microphone. Sir Paul also performed for the crowd of about 3,000 people as did Tony Bennett, Alicia Keys, Neil Young, Coldplay, Foo Fighters and Norah Jones, among others.
British funnyman Eddie Izzard hosted. "My forte is talking for three hours at the Hollywood Bowl and going on and on and on, so doing three-minute little bits is tricky for me," Izzard told me. "It's not an easy beat for me, so I said I would actually rather not. And then Paul said he wanted me to do it. I talked to him and I said, 'If I'm crap, it's your fault.'"
Izzard was anything but crap, cracking the audience up with a fictionalized tale of McCartney's life that included claims that Jacques Cousteau and Brigitte Bardot were his parents and Muhammad Ali was one of the original Beatles.
Also in the audience were John Stamos, Jason Mraz, Randy Jackson, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Hugh Hefner, Yoko Ono, Corinne Bailey Rae, Breaking Dawn songstress Christina Perri, Bonnie Raitt, soap star Tamara Braun and E!'s own Giuliana Rancic and her hubby Bill. MusiCares is the Recording Academy's financial assistance program for members of the music community suffering from substance abuse issues and other critical illnesses. More than $6.5 million was raised at this year's gala, which in the past honored Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin and Neil Diamond.
Also last night, Ciara, Kelly Rowland, Derek Hough, Cheryl Burke, Kym Johnson and Christina Milian hit producer Tricky Stewart's late-night bash at Greystone Manor. Earlier in the day, Glee stars Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz and Josh Sussman were a few of the young celebs who stopped by Pepsi's "We Love Pop" Grammy party with Pandora at the Candorolet House.